2 Days in Paris – kind of

Two weeks ago, Gunnar and I went to Paris to watch Norwegian films – yeah, I know it still sounds a bit weird to tell such things.

The first evening was nice... but embarrassing.
Let me explain.
We arrive at Reflet Médicis and two Norwegian men wave at us and start to cry out our names. People often wave at me. So I get used to it, Gunnar nevertheless thinks it's remarkable.

So we arrive and the two men waving (and, almost, screaming) was the Norwegian director Knut Erik Jensen and Jan Erik Holst, responsible for the launching of Norwegian films abroad at the Norwegiand Film Institute. Gunnar met Holst for the first time, the same year, the same cinema art et essai and at the same occasion he met me. 
We start talking about VIP grants, Norwegian films abroad and so on. And also about the speech I would give the evening after. When I tell Knut Erik it's about Norwegian comedies, he answers « do they even exist? ». I laugh since we both know Norwegian comedies aren't all funny.

After the screening of Stella Polaris, Gunnar and I drank some wine and talk non-sense with each other. And soon with more people in Swedish, in Svorsk and in French.

Since I am a very nice stalker – meaning that I know when people do PR and don't try to be an attention grabber – I leave Knut Erik with his new fans and I start to chat with a Norwegian woman living in France and the nice man besides. He is looking for what I own, meaning the Stella Polaris DVD. I write some references on my visit card and give it to him.

Then starts the embarrassing part.

  Gunnar and I keep talking about differences between Sweden, Norway and France. The two nice people we just met agree. Then the man starts telling he has worked on an Ibsen play some months ago. Great.

« What do you do?
 _ I'm an actor and a director. »

Ok, that's nothing really exciting when you are in Paris. I have met plenty of actors known for their... feet – socks ads – mouths – coffee ads or hands – jewels ads. And even real actors who spend their evening on stages. So saying that you are an actor when living in Paris is just as exciting as declaring you work on a oil platform when living in Stavanger. We don't recognize our nice actor with whom we still chat.

Then, he takes his iPhone and try to send some messages to his Norwegian friend.
His Norwegian friend being Bent Hamer.
DA Bent Hamer.

He then explains he played in Factotum. We saw Factotum.
It starts to feel a bit awkward. 
I remember the French speaking man in Factotum but just can't place his face.
Well, he is standing in front of me.

Shame, shame, shame. 

We talk about Bent Hamer who prefers spending some time with his 1001 gram script than joining us. The thesp then says that Hamer released Eggs after our actor had directed a "quite popular shortfilm" named La Vis.
It doesn't ring bell. Though I will have realised before the end of the night that I have owned a VHS copy of the film for more than 15 years.

The evening goes on and I finally get to talk to Knut Erik and to Jan Erik. Nice.

Finally when Gunnar and I go back to the hotel, we check our actor on IMDb.

HOLY SH--- 

Our thesp has played in about 170 TV/movie productions.
Among other things:
India Song (Duras)
Der Himmel über Berlin (Wenders)
Code inconnu (Haneke)
Poulet aux prunes (Satrapi/Paronnaud) etc...

We have seen these films so why couldn't we recognize him? Shame on us.
And you know the best part?
His « quite popular short film » won a César for best short film and was Oscar nominated in the same category.

EMBARRASSING, ISN'T IT? 



Thankfully the day after was less... weird.

Our hotel:

 

 Our view:

 

Comédie Française

 

  

Le Louvre et nous:

 

Le Louvre et Gunnar:

 

Mardi Gras La Châtre

Photos from Rouen

This is the gothic cathedral with its tower stretching 151 metres into the sky.
The work erecting this cathedral started in 1201 but already in the 4th century one could find smaller church buildings on this particular place.

This is another part of the dome seen from another angle, the so called Butter Tower - La Tour de Beurre.
Why this name? According to Aurore it stems from the fact that money from the manufacturing of butter in the region paid for the erection of this tower.

...and a beautiful church portal.

According to Aurore there are more than a hundred churches in Rouen and that is quite impressing, remembering that the inner city has no more than 110 000 inhabitants (with suburbs - the metropolitan area - 532 000, approximately). One of the cities in France with the largest numbers of churches for sure.

The following photos - beginning with the above - depicts the extremely genuine, well-preserved wooden houses all dating from the 17th, 16th, 15th and even down to the 14th century.
Each year one renovate and restore a number of these houses and this is an ongoing process but overall - architecturally - Rouen is one of the most diversified cities in France.

Falling or not falling?

We could add a lot more photos of these wooden buildings but why not visit the town and take a look for yourselves, you won't be disappointed.

The emblematic Le Gros-Horloge (the link contains information only in French), built between 1389-1398.

This inner courtyard and its buildings is called Aître St Maclou and the word aître is derived from the latin world atrium, meaning the entrance room of a house, in extension - in this case - meaning the yard of the church, that is to say the cemetery.
The cemetery around the church St Maclou became, during the plague in the 14th century, to small and hereby one inaugurated this space (1357) and it became a mass grave for all those dying from this terrible disease.
In the wooden structure one find different carvings depicting skulls, skeletons and other symbols refering to death.

...Château de Valençay

After our visit to Levroux we continued to Château de Valençay (photos above and below), a castle with a long and interesting history, dating back to 10th Century.

Already in the third and fourth century however, a villa was built at the site.
The first person who is said to have erected a castle-like building on the grounds, was Gauthier, seigneur de Valençay and this was at the end of the 10th century.
In those days the grounds covered an impressing 20 000 hectares!

Among many proprietors we find Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, regarded as one of the foremost diplomates in European history, born in 1754.
He first became a clergyman after studies in theology but after a political career, he became 'Président de l'Assemblée' in 1790.

Later on - as noted above - he became the most influential diplomate under the rule of Napoléon I, given the name 'the Prince of Diplomates' and the 'foreign minister' of France under the dictator.
In 1803 he became the proprietor of this castle, ordered to buy it by Napoléon who wanted him to live in a 'respectable' way.

Above you can see the castle from the frontage and just below from one of the sides where we in front of the castle see a multitude of flowers growing rather 'wild', though not uncultivated.

In other parts of the garden we found trees, bushes and flowers made into sculptural forms.

This is the castle from the rear....


...and this is the - in France - mandatory wine cellar.


Columns near the exit.
Help! I want to get out!

I don't. It's cool here.

An afternoon in St-Benoît-du-Sault

When I (Aurore) was a child, I visited St-Benoît-du-Sault with my class. It made such a strong impression on me that when I stood in front of the church today, I could exactly recall how it was to be there more than 20 years ago.

This medieval village, with its 700 inhabitants, is picturesque.

.

If you want to see more of it and cannot travel, watch the French film Wyvern (La Vouivre)


(Photo poster copied from: http://www.racinescomtoises.net/IMG/jpg/Vouivre.jpg)

Parc des Parelles

A beautiful day in Parc des Parelles with a multitude of trees and other vegetation.
We strolled around for two and a half ours. The sun was shining and it was a very hot day but thanks to the vegetation and all the different biotopes, we could also enjoy shadowier places with fresh air.

The small amphitheater was very charming and they had an add inviting theatre groups or musicians to perform there.
This is a very special forest (wildwood) and we warmly recommend a visit!